Start with the operating airline’s official claim or complaint form—you do not need a claims company to make the first request. Keep the booking, timing evidence, airline notices and itemised receipts. The next step depends on the route: EU guidance uses a two-month airline-response point, UK guidance uses a final response or eight weeks, and U.S. DOT rules do not create an EU/UK-style fixed cash band for ordinary delays.
Educational estimate. Not a law firm. Not a guarantee of payment.
Choose the legal path before you escalate
Send the first factual request to the operating airline. Then use the row that matches the route and framework shown by the calculator. A regulator complaint, ADR case or non-binding opinion is not a payment guarantee.
Use the operating airline’s complaint form first. If it has not replied within two months, or the reply is unsatisfactory, Your Europe says you can complain to the relevant national authority in the country where the incident happened. Its opinion is non-binding, and court time limits follow national law.
EU: claim your air-passenger rightsComplain to the airline first. After its final response—or no reply within eight weeks—use its approved ADR provider when it has one. CAA PACT may help when the airline is not an ADR member, but PACT cannot impose a binding solution.
CAA: direct claim and escalationThere is no federal EU/UK-style fixed cash band for an ordinary delay. A refund can apply after a cancellation or significant change when you choose not to travel. Airlines must publish a complaint channel; a DOT complaint is forwarded for a response, but DOT does not investigate every service complaint individually.
Official paths rechecked 16 September 2026. This is process guidance, not legal advice or a compensation decision.
Enter the operating airline, origin, final ticketed destination and how late you arrived. See whether an EU261 or UK261 path applies and which preliminary band is in play. The result is educational, not a payout.
Save the booking confirmation, boarding or check-in proof, airline disruption notice, scheduled and actual arrival, any replacement offer and receipts for reasonable meals, hotels and local transport. Do not upload those files here.
Use the printable letter toolkit to ask for a written review. State facts you can support. Ask the airline to confirm the operating carrier, recorded cause and its position on compensation, care, refund and rerouting.
Use the operating airline’s current official claims or complaint form. Verified links for British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, Emirates and Qatar Airways are listed on this page. FlightRefundCalc does not submit the form for you.
Escalation depends on the route and legal framework: EU guidance uses the relevant national authority after no reply within two months or an unsatisfactory reply; UK guidance uses ADR or CAA PACT after a final response or eight weeks without a reply; the U.S. DOT complaint process is not an EU/UK-style cash-compensation scheme.
A useful airline file is a timeline, not a slogan. Write down the scheduled departure and arrival, the actual final arrival, when the airline told you, and whether a replacement was offered or accepted. Keep the booking confirmation, boarding or check-in proof, disruption email or app notice, bag tags if a suitcase was also delayed, and itemised receipts for reasonable care. If a codeshare is involved, identify which airline operated the disrupted flight.
FlightRefundCalc is designed so those documents stay on your device. Do not paste passport numbers, payment cards, booking passwords or scans of identity documents into the calculator or the letter tool. Put those only on the airline’s current official channel if the airline asks for them.
The free toolkit drafts a factual request: route, dates, delay or cancellation, framework you think applies, and a request that the airline confirm the operating carrier, recorded cause, extraordinary-circumstances position if any, and its written view on compensation, care, refund and rerouting. That is preparation, not a court filing. Print it, download the unsigned PDF, then submit through the airline — not through this website.
If the calculator showed no EU261 or UK261 band, still write when you need a refund, a reroute or an explanation. U.S. DOT and India DGCA paths are different questions. Do not paste a euro or sterling figure onto a route that the coverage test rejected.
DIY letter versus optional AirHelp success fee
| Path | Who files | Fee | You keep on a €600 / £520 band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct airline + FlightRefundCalc letter | You | £0 / €0 from this site | The statutory amount if the airline pays |
| Optional AirHelp referral | AirHelp if it accepts | 35% standard, plus 15% if legal action (published combined 50%) | About €300 / £260 in the 50% case |
AirHelp fees checked against its published Our Fees page (updated 11 August 2026; checked 26 August 2026). FlightRefundCalc does not take a cut. Educational estimate. Not a guarantee of payment.
Verified airline channels
These five links are the recorded official claim or help pages, last checked 26 August 2026. Airlines move forms. If a link is stale, start from the airline’s own homepage rather than a third-party inbox. This directory does not guess emails, response times or fees.
Open British Airways official claim or help page.
Open official pageOpen easyJet official claim or help page.
Open official pageOpen Ryanair official claim or help page.
Open official pageOpen Emirates official claim or help page.
Open official pageOpen Qatar Airways official claim or help page.
Open official pageThe CAA’s complaint guidance is to give the airline a chance first. If you have no reply within eight weeks, or you disagree with its final response, take the file to the airline’s Alternative Dispute Resolution body when the airline is a member. A final response can let you move forward before eight weeks; check the receiving body's requirements. Approved UK aviation ADR can make a decision the airline has signed up to follow. If the airline is not in ADR, the CAA Passenger Advice and Complaints Team may look at the complaint. PACT can take a case up with the airline; it cannot impose a binding solution.
The eight-week no-response threshold is a complaints-process clock, not a limitation period. Escalation wording checked against the linked CAA sources on 9 September 2026. In England and Wales a six-year limitation period is commonly cited for contractual claims; Scotland and Northern Ireland can differ. This page does not calculate remaining days. See the time-limits guide.
FlightRefundCalc will not file the claim, call the airline, sit in ADR for you, or take a cut if the airline pays. It will not invent a live payout, a Trustpilot score or a company number. Feroz Sheikh in Doha maintains the calculator as an independent educational website. Content last reviewed: 16 September 2026.
If you would rather pay someone to chase the file, an optional AirHelp referral can appear after a qualifying EU or UK estimate. Compare that fee with the DIY column in the table above before you click. The calculator and letter stay free either way.
Before you hit send, read the draft against the itinerary. Correct the airline name, the flight that actually operated, the dates, scheduled and actual times, and whether a replacement was accepted. Remove guesses. If you mention a statutory band, say it is the preliminary figure from the facts you entered and ask the airline to confirm or explain a different view. Attach only what the airline’s form requests, through the airline’s channel.
If the airline replies that extraordinary circumstances apply, keep the whole reply. Ask which event, why it could not reasonably have been avoided, and what measures were taken. Care and refund questions can still be open. If the airline is silent, diary the eight-week point from your written complaint, then use ADR or PACT as the CAA describes. Northern Ireland passengers may also be pointed to the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland for some airport or airline issues.
The official EU and UK sources above both start with a direct airline complaint. This site supports that first step with a free calculator, free letter and verified airline links; it does not replace a regulator, ADR decision, solicitor or court. If the amount is large, the facts are contested, or a deadline is close, take qualified local advice in the relevant jurisdiction.
Keep compensation, care and refund in separate sentences in your letter. A passenger who no longer wishes to travel after a long delay may need a refund even if the cash band is disputed. A passenger who waited overnight may need hotel reimbursement even if the final arrival was under three hours. Mixing those questions into one “pay me £520” line makes it easier for the airline to refuse the whole file.
Codeshares deserve one extra line: name the marketing carrier and the operating carrier, and say which flight was disrupted. Family bookings should list how many passengers sat on the same reservation. Infants and connecting passengers on separate tickets are easy to get wrong; if you are unsure, say so rather than inventing a combined itinerary. Honesty is more useful than a larger headline number.
Content last reviewed: 16 September 2026. FlightRefundCalc is an independent educational website. It is not a law firm, claims company, or registered company. Contact: [email protected]. Educational estimate. Not a law firm. Not a guarantee of payment.